Ambassador Rick Barton is responsible for leading State Department efforts on civilian-led peace and security efforts.

PLYMOUTH, N.H.– The U.S. Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization will speak at Plymouth State University’s Welcome Center at the PSU Ice Arena Rt 175A (Holderness Road) Thursday, March 27, at 1 p.m. Rick Barton will talk about how the State Department is advancing national security by helping countries like Kenya, Syria, Honduras and Burma break cycles of conflict and address the causes of destabilizing violence. Ambassador Barton’s newly established office focuses on civilian-led peace and security efforts in volatile situations across the world. The Ambassador will also discuss job opportunities in international business.

This presentation is free and open to the community and is hosted by Plymouth State University in partnership with the World Affairs Council of N.H. and the PSU College of Business Administration.

Ambassador Barton is driving the State Department’s efforts to improve U.S. government effectiveness in preventing conflict and addressing crises. Mr. Barton leads a team of nearly 200, who are focused on a few countries of special importance or where innovative initiatives can further locally-driven solutions. Previously, Ambassador Barton worked to improve the U.S. and international response to conflict in more than 30 of the world’s most unstable places. He led independent reviews of Iraq reconstruction; developed civilian strategies for Iraq, Sudan, and Sri Lanka; created new measurements of progress in Iraq and Afghanistan; and initiated path-breaking approaches to conflict reduction in Pakistan and Nigeria. He served in New York as the U.S. Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), working on development, peacebuilding, climate change, and human rights. During that time, Mr. Barton was actively engaged in the creation of UN Women, the advancement of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the Millennium Development Goals summit, the suspension of Libya’s voting rights on the UN Human Rights Commission, Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction, Democracy Fund initiatives, and efforts to better align U.S. and UN development country programs.

Ambassador Barton graduated from Harvard College, earned his master’s in Business Administration from Boston University and was honored with a Doctorate by Wheaton College of Massachusetts.

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